I was flipping through TV late last night, mulling over some site design issues and basically operating in the sort of zoned out state I’m usually in when in front of the television. I drive Sean insane, because ten minutes of TV watching is about as much as I can take, before I have to get up and either grab a book, or look something up on the internet. Short attention spans, they’re not conducive to extended periods of sitting in one place.

In the middle of my flip – a – thon, I suddenly stumbled over what is perhaps the most disturbing kid’s Christmas special of all time – Rudolph. Done in claymation, this ‘timeless’ children’s classic teaches us all valuable lessons about life, love and understanding.

Lessons like:

– people (or reindeer) with disabilities should never be given jobs
– children (or toys) that are ‘strange’ or different should be shunned
– Santa can be kind of a dick

The French Bulldog Village, the rescue and placement group I so frequently give shout outs to, is rapidly turning into the Island of Misfit French Bulldogs. The halt, the lame, the not so very pretty, the ‘might bite kids if they take his toys’, the ‘one part Frenchie, ten parts God only knows’ dogs – those are the dogs that rely on FBV to get them whole, get them homes and get them loved.

Operating on the principle that ugly dogs (and bad dogs) need love too, the French Bulldog Village is busily being overwhelmed with the dogs that no one else wants. The hard to place dogs, the dogs with issues. The dogs that take extra time, money and care to re hab.

I guess I just have a soft spot for the less than perfect French Bulldogs – the Frenchies with tongues that loll, ears that flop, and bodies that contain as much Basset Hound as they do Bulldog. Thankfully, French Bulldog Village founder Charlotte Creeley (and all the FBV elves, who labor tirelessly and drive endlessly to pick up the dogs no one else wants) has a fondness for them, as well. If she didn’t – if FBVdidn’t – where would they all end up?

That’s something I don’t like to think about, as is the question of what will happen to them all if FBV can’t meet their 2009 fund raising goals.

To that end, why not help us to spread some French Bulldog love?

If you have a web page, a blog, a FaceBook account, or even a (gasp) MySpace page, why not add our nifty new French Bulldog Village “Featured K Kid” Widget to it? It’s as simple as adding a YouTube video or any other copy/paste widget, and there’s even built in easy add options for most of the popular social networking systems.

There’s a larger, 300 X 250 widget (you can see it at the bottom of this page), or a more narrow, taller, 160 X 300 widget (good for sidebars on blogs). I’m working on an interactive banner, in standard 460 X 80 size.

The content is automatically updated with a new K Kid and new K Kid Slideshow on a semi monthly basis, and there are easy ‘one click’ donation buttons.

Spread some love, and help support needy French Bulldogs and French Bulldog mixes!

As the ever excellent “Lassie Get Help” points out, this is a great time to remember the concept of tzedakah – embodied by “justice (tzedek), law (mishpat), kindness (chesed) and compassion (rachamim). Are these not the very core concepts that rescue seeks to honor?

Justice, for the victoms of abuse and neglect.
Law, for those who harm them
Kindness, towards those who’ve experienced little of it
Compassion, towards those who deserve it

Exercise some tezedakah this season, and sponsor a K Kid. The world is never anything but brightened by doing a mitzvah.